Q's Nominees

Both my nominees took much thought. For my Sober Award, I considered Sin City. I considered Jack Thompson....boy did I consider Jack Thompson. I was so close to nominating Jack Thompson it hurt.

Yet, I felt that Jack Thompson was not my area of expertise. Fandom however,
is. Especially when it involves either wank, which is to say, drama, and Sailormoon.
Once upon a time, there was a cosplayer of the character 'Sailormoon' known
as "Usagi Kou". She had a reputation for being snarky to other Cosplayers who
dressed as Sailormoon. Kou had a legion of buddies known as the "Kou Klan",
all dressed as different characters from Sailormoon. Whenever drama arose around
Usagi Kou, the other Kou's would step in and defend her. On April 2005, after
inviting Usagi to live with them, Michiru Kou and Haruka Kou broke the silence
of Usagi's batshittery, claiming Usagi to be lazy, unhealthy, a leech, a sex
fiend and an all round bad houseguest. The internet 'asploded! Other stories
came out about Usagi Kou, including that Usagi's former boyfriend had drunken
sex with a minor at a con, and Usagi flipped out. Meanwhile, the minor tried
to OD on pills. Yeah.

Several of the Kou's turned there back on 'There princess', and were cuddled and friended.

In September, all was forgiven and nearly all the Kou Klan had crawled back
to her. It was a thing of unbelievable beauty.

Q's Sober Nominee: The Kou Klan Wank of 05

For my Bender award, I needed something unique. I hate a lot of stuff, so
I had plenty to choose from. The announcement that Fraggle Rock was going to
be made into a feature length film? Dark Crystal Two? How about the Labyrenth
Manga? The Silent Hill comic books perhaps. No, all of these things affected
me more then anyone else. None were worthy enough, except maybe this one girl,
who was asking for Pay pal donations because Katrina gobbled up her anime collection.

And then I came across the story of Tirhas Habtegiris. I say Tirhas' name
because I feel she should not be forgotten. She should be humanized. Tirhas
was a young woman with no medical insurance, living on a respirator and suffering
from abdominal cancer. Since she had no insurance, and there was no way she
would survive, the doctors pulled the plug.

Tirhas was conscious and responsive when they pulled the plug on her.

"She wanted to get her mom over here or to get to her mom so she could die in her mom's arms," says her cousin Meri Tesfay.

Ten days was not enough time, they say, to get a mother from Africa to America.

A statement from Baylor Plano disputes that and says the hospital did its best to comply with the family's wishes in every way.

Still, on the 11th day, Tirhas Habtegiris was taken off the respirator and died.